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Matt Littman

Matt Littman

Posted: September 15, 2008 10:32 AM

The Four Things Obama Must Do to Win


The best interviewer at ABC is not Charlie Gibson. It's not George Stephanopoulos. It's the women of The View. In a few short minutes, they called John McCain to the carpet, and they forced him to reveal his true nature: dishonest (earmarks) and thin-skinned (look at his face when Joy Behar tells him that his ads about Obama are filled with lies).

There are no other mainstream reporters willing to ask tough questions. Campbell Brown on CNN did a good interview with a McCain spokesflack, and the McCain mouthpiece could not answer Campbell Brown's questions about Sarah Palin with any honesty. He stalled, stumbled, and stammered. It was an astonishing embarrassment. The end result? The McCain camp boycotted CNN. CNN should wear that boycott on its sleeve.

Sarah Palin's answers to Charlie Gibson were so frightening and robotic -- she seemed more like a Sarah Palin robot than a real person -- that she's going to follow-up that talk with a Q & A with...Sean Hannity! Wow, that ought to be a tough interview. Sean Hannity's interview with Sarah Palin should have all the depth of a sideline reporter's halftime interview at an NFL game. I'm expecting tough questions, like, "How does it feel to have the media attack you?", "Did you ever expect such unfairness?", and "Why do you love your country so much?"

This is all part of the attempt to hide Palin. And you know what? That's fine -- if the Republicans can hide her, and the media does not call her out, and the public is not outraged, then it's the public that has itself to blame.

But enough about Palin. We should all stop talking about her. Talking about Palin only fits into the McCain's camps hopes that we talk about anything other than the issues. And this election is not about her, her lack of credentials, or the fact that she is singularly unprepared for the job of President.

This election is about John McCain. And the Obama campaign should reflect that by only talking about this (and if they stick to these points, they will win):

1.) 91% -- McCain's record of voting with George W. Now, the public does not seem to believe that McCain is Bush III. However, what the public should know is that McCain is more likely to take us to war again. I'd play the "Bomb Iran" song over and over again. I'd show McCain on Letterman talking about Saddam Hussein likely being responsible for the anthrax scare. I'd show McCain talking about the fact that we'd need only 100,000 troops in Iraq. McCain's not Bush -- he's more of a war monger.

2.) Lobbyists -- I'd show McCain going onto the boat of Raffaello Follieri (boyfriend of Anne Hathaway), and show headlines of McCain's ties to lobbyists.

3.) The Economy -- Over and over, I'd show McCain saying that he doesn't know much about the economy, but he's going to read Alan Greenspan's book.

Hammer these three points home. Lobbyists; war; the economy. Hit them every day.

4.) Smile, Senator Obama. Often. And remember, you are the new way of politics, he is the change. Let others attack. Let the commercials attack. Barack Obama? He is the guy who doesn't go into the dirt. He's the man who can bring people together. A new way of politics. In that way, Obama is the message and the messenger. Remember that. Remember how great it is that a year and a half ago you were a massive underdog and today you may be President of the United States. You were raised by a single mother who was on food stamps. Is this a great country or what? Only in America. Big smile.

That's how you win.

The best interviewer at ABC is not Charlie Gibson. It's not George Stephanopoulos. It's the women of The View. In a few short minutes, they called John McCain to the carpet, and they forced him to ...
The best interviewer at ABC is not Charlie Gibson. It's not George Stephanopoulos. It's the women of The View. In a few short minutes, they called John McCain to the carpet, and they forced him to ...
 
 
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12:23 AM on 09/16/2008
I love you guys, you people are great! You guys are the reason I started making such color full blogs!
EVERY BODY LOVES A PUZZLE.
theharvardviewdotblogspotdotcom/
Can you get to my page and let me know what you think?
12:19 AM on 09/16/2008
I love you guys, you people are great! You guys are the reason I started making such color full blogs!
http://theharvardview.blogspot.com/
11:50 PM on 09/15/2008
Nice commentary. But why on earth do you appear on Fox News? (I read your bio.)
photo
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
eden4barack08
Watch out! He carries a big stick!
11:45 PM on 09/15/2008
2, 3, 4, are already underway, sans Folliero, but plenty other lobbyists.

#1, absolutely! There's soo much self-incriminating footage of McSame, saying all sorts of things, nobody even needs to attack him. Just plenty of ads with his own words.

I'd say Obama/Biden 08 are on the right track.
Check him out today:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFxHZd4sEWo
11:44 PM on 09/15/2008
Excellent advice, Matt...you are right on the money. Barack, please!!!....just get your balance and be yourself. You have the judgment and capacity to clean McCain's clock. Your focus is Republican John McCain, i.e. Bush III. Smile and focus your arguments like a laser beam, Mr. President.
06:06 PM on 09/15/2008
http://www.c-span.org/Politics/search.aspx?For=%22Politics+on+C-SPAN%22+%22National+Races%22&From=More

I encourage everyone to watch the Service Nation event at Columbia University above to hear the distinct differences between the two presidential candidates.

One thing everyone has forgotten is why the Obama Campaign has received so much enthusiasm. Its his views on a partnership with the American people. Unity. Bringing people into the dialogue and the actions that form their democracy. The grassroots movement birthed from his community organizing past. It has been buried in recent weeks by divisive chatter. Watch the forum and remember how cohesive and consistent Obama has been from the beginning about partnerships, grassroots, listening to the people and urging them to act.

Watch and continue to urge the campaign to return and re-emphasize this powerful and forgotten aspect of his campaign.
05:41 PM on 09/15/2008
FINALLY!

Simple advice that makes sense and fits the kind of campaign Obama's been running.

Nice work!
03:36 PM on 09/15/2008
Great advice. I hope the Obama Campaign follows your ideas.
02:58 PM on 09/15/2008
Yes, Obama must point out McCain's lies and bonehead policy positions but that cannot be the sum of his campaign. He has to provide the positive alternative. You are wrong when you say this election is about John McCain. This election is about BARACK OBAMA. He MUST focus on how he will lead us, not just what is wrong with McCain. Obama's success thus far has been all about inspiration. He better start inspiring us again, or he will lose.
05:05 PM on 09/15/2008
I agree with htkb to a point. I think Biden and the broader campaign should go on the attack, but Obama must present something positive in the vacuum. I don't think, as htkb seems to, that Obama got where he was merely through "inspiration." But he was able to talk about himself as a Democrat with values, rather than some effete policy wonk. By tying his story into three solid values--hard work, responsibility, and community--Obama can begin defining himself again, rather than letting the Republicans continue to define him.
02:35 PM on 09/15/2008
Finally, someone on Huffpo who gets it!

Obama pulling out his anger will not work... just let McCain implode on his own.
06:59 PM on 09/15/2008
So many are conditioned by decades of dirty politics that Obama is expected to stoop to McCain's level and McCain wants him there.

Obama isn't taking the bait.
08:25 AM on 09/16/2008
Yes, there are too many political backseat drivers!

"Mr. Karpov" (Obama), I'm a professional pedestrian. And in my "humble opinion", your first move should be pawn to king four!
02:29 PM on 09/15/2008
Our citizenry has become so callous, they have lost the ability to see into the soul of a person. The scales on our eyes are so thick that it's become impossible to intuit the true meaning behind words, or to see past even the shallowest of rhetoric and intentions. We are all born with the ability to listen to our hearts. But years of assault on our sensibilities, from progressively worse pop music to unimaginable depths of celebrity obsession, has made the lowest common denominator the new high bar. Real discourse no longer has a place. We have broken into rival teams, and the only things that make us feel better are actions, words, even lies, that guarantee victory for our side. I remember attending an important late season HS football game against our bitterest rivals. With the score deadlocked, our side executed a game winning play that seemed treacherously unfair. Though there were no rules on the books prohibiting such a trick, it seemed to me that it was far below the level of integrity I associated with our school, our team, our side. People in the stands on our side of the field cheered and cried for joy, but I just didn't get it. That's what I imagine it must feel like to be a disgruntled Republican, if there is such a thing. Where is the integrity we need from our leaders? What is to become of our country, once a leader of nations, without it?
01:29 PM on 09/15/2008
>>riley 85

I've spent hours watching the DNC and RNC convention coverage, comparing the two candidates and their issues, reading, reading reading.

It's not the smile that has me when it comes to Obama, it's the integrity and strong intelligent character behind the smile. Come on, we're not all that easily fooled. You can't judge a book by it's cover. Dig deeper.
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karronna
12:55 PM on 09/15/2008
question riley85,

are you one of those who voted for bush/cheney? Did you fail to see a "secret agenda" there?....hmmmm...maybe your "sixth sense'" is lacking?
12:23 PM on 09/15/2008
Good advice. I hope he heeds the message. John McCain is an imposter of the worst kind. And he needs to be exposed early and often.
11:50 AM on 09/15/2008
Sorry but many of us are not falling for Obama's toothy smile.
We know too much about his life, his thin record, his associates.

We believe he has a secret agenda, isn't what he pretends to be--sorry but the smile won't work and neither will his endless answers that really say nothing.
12:47 PM on 09/15/2008
What is his secret agenda? This country is struggling because people like you let McCain and Palin lie to your face. You don't get mad, you accept it, and you make excuses for them. In your heart of hearts, you know they are lying, so why don't you call them on it? You'd rather focus on a secret agenda? Does that really make sense to you?
02:58 PM on 09/15/2008
Excellent points, but you're dancing around the real 'need' for Obama. Use McCain videos in every ad. "McCain is for Change" show him changing his views on video the same way he laughed at Romney being for change. Videos of McCain himself will be the most damning.
01:12 PM on 09/15/2008
You can't possibly be serious about fake smiles after the Sarah Palin publicity stunt fiasco. I know you like your information broken up into little simple sound bites, just like my son likes his hot dogs cut into tiny little pieces, but sometimes reality is just a little more complex than a Fox news talking point. Try putting on your listening ears and think about what Obama actually has to say.